For over a month, Liu Xiaoxian relentlessly tormented and worried about living away from his parents, who are stuck in Wuhan because of Covid-19.

Liu, the producer of a television program in Beijing, China, decided to cancel his flight on January 22 to Wuhan to celebrate the Chinese New Year with his family, after rumors of a virus were appearing. spread in her hometown. The next day, the government suddenly blocked the city of 11 million people.

"Canceling air tickets is the right choice, but I'm not happy at all," the 25-year-old woman said. Liu's parents had a cough after going out to buy groceries without a mask at a location near the Flower Market, which is suspected to be the source of the disease.

Liu stayed up all night worrying for his parents, unable to concentrate on work, languishing in insecurity. "I feel like I am separate from everything," she said.

After Covid-19 broke out in Wuhan, Hubei province in December 2019, the Chinese government imposed a series of restrictions on travel, forced self-isolation for a long time, blockade dozens of cities. to prevent nCoV from spreading, causing more than 780 million people, or more than half of the population, to be put under control.

Mainland China currently records more than 80,000 nCoV infections, more than 2,900 deaths and more than 47,000 recover. The number of new infections today is 125, the lowest since the health authorities released data in January. Fears about the line of life and death also subsided with numbers.

However, the emotional trauma to the people in the government's fierce battle against disease cannot be erased. Millions of people are still bound by the blockade, but even those who are now moving more freely struggle with psychological issues. For weeks, they were kept in confined rooms, had limited social contact, left relatives, were afraid of disease, poor food, exercise and income were affected.

The problem is even more serious for people with ties to Hubei province, such as Liu. Their common feeling is that they feel guilty and helpless, while those living in the midst of the epidemic become exhausted with the long-term war of unknown future.

An unnamed doctor working on the front line against Covid-19 in Wuhan said he always slept in a hospital dormitory and had not seen his family for over a month. In a WeChat post last month, he still asked his friends to tell jokes to boost his mental strength. However, recently he only posted obituaries of doctors who died of the disease.

Another medical staff in Wuhan faced heavy phone calls from patients and their families. The 54-year-old nurse is unable to sleep despite knowing that a good night's sleep is essential for the immune system. She has taken 4 psychological tests online. The results show that anxiety and depression are increasing. She had to take sleeping pills before switching to the prescribed medication.

"I feel bad, but I'm not allowed to flinch and have to keep working. Every day I am shocked at the deaths and am afraid I can spread the disease to my family," the nurse said. She was trying to stay in one room in a house and avoid contact with her family, making her depression more severe.

The government has sent a team of psychiatrists to hospitals in Wuhan to relieve stress on frontline health workers. Through non-profit organizations, hundreds of psychologists and psychologists also volunteered to support health workers by calling WeChat.

Dr. Zhao Ruoping, an expert at Peking University and a member of a non-profit organization, said that counselors are getting more and more support requests from Wuhan doctors and residents. The faculty of psychology at Beijing Normal University also received nearly 3,800 requests for counseling within three weeks.

Most calls came from residents facing panic attacks, fear of infection or financial pressure. Many also expressed their grief over last month's sudden death of Li Wenliang, the 34-year-old ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital who warned early of Covid-19.

Xia Rui, representative of the Wuchang Xinyun Social Work Service Center in Wuhan, a non-profit organization that receives free psychological counseling, said the majority of incoming callers showed no symptoms of nCoV infection, but still anxiety and fear. "It is human nature. Death is the ultimate fear," Xia said.

Biting is also a common mood. A 42-year-old artist in Chongqing city is deeply distressed when unable to attend the funeral of his aunt who lives in a village nearly 20 km away. Traveling between localities is almost impossible under a series of blockades. In addition, he will have to separate himself two weeks after returning if he moves to another place, meaning he cannot take care of his family.

"I can only swallow the pain inside," the 42-year-old said, and expressed his hope that the epidemic would soon pass so that he could visit his aunt's grave, who always regarded him as a biological child.

Mei Xin, a software developer in Wuhan, has lived in Zhengzhou city for the past month after visiting the wife's relatives. The blockade made this 38-year-old man unable to return. To "kill time", he spends two hours a day exercising, while cooking traditional dishes of Wuhan to offset the nostalgia of his homeland. He is often unaware of the date.

Every day Mei calls her 90-year-old grandmother. She was preparing to perform pelvic surgery, but was later returned home in Wuhan by the hospital to make way for Covid-19. "We are only talking about trivial things. I am afraid I will cry if I mention her health," Mei said.

While stuck in Beijing, Liu Xiaoxian tried to keep the link with his homeland by poring over the social media posts of a writer in Wuhan, telling the daily life at the center of the epidemic. Liu said her parents had lessened their coughs, but now she is worried about their psychological health. They stayed at home almost all day and counted the number of people who died from nCoV.

Liu often video chat with parents, trying to help them stay calm. "We mainly talk about how to buy vegetables online and their daily food," Liu said.

Recently, the TV producer went to Berlin, Germany to work. She was surprised to witness that people here did not seem to suffer from fear of viruses or worries about their families.

"I wish I could be with my parents. At least I can help, by becoming a volunteer or doing something," Liu said.